Ariarne Titmus sensationally steps away from swimming with no set return date after glorious Olympics

Ariarne Titmus has sensationally revealed she will step away from swimming with no set return date in the wake of an exhausting Olympics campaign in Paris.

The Australian freestyle superstar claimed 400m and 4x200m relay gold medals while picking up silver in the 200m and 800m, and she may not race again for well over a year.

The podium finishes extended her streak of claiming a medal in every single event she has ever contested at the Olympics, but it came at a significant cost.

Utterly spent after her last race on Sunday in Paris, the 23-year-old said in the immediate aftermath that she was ready for “a big rest” — and she meant it.

“I’m definitely having a very extended break,” Titmus said when she expanded on her future at a low-key press conference on Monday.

“I haven’t planned when I’m going back to swimming. I want to go back when I feel ready to go back. Could be up to 12 months.”

Titmus, who will celebrate her 24th birthday next month, fears burning out and is desperate to put herself in the position to go for gold at her third Olympics with Los Angeles 2028.

That means sacrificing her chances at the world championships in August 2025 and even the 2027 edition in the build-up.

“I just want to make sure I’m ready to go in LA. I don’t want to come back too early and, you know, lose that fire, I guess,” Titmus said.

“I think four years is a long time, so I want to prepare myself the best for those Olympic Games.

“For me, that’s the priority, not world championships in the years prior. So I just want to really have time to let the hunger build back up and enjoy myself for a little while.”

The swimming program at Los Angeles 2028 will take place six weeks before Titmus’s 28th birthday.

She will then be 31, on the brink of turning 32, at Brisbane 2032, which is much too far away to know if she will hang on for a dream run at gold on Australian soil.

But her willingness to take a break and recharge for LA comes at a time when she has praised her great American rival Katie Ledecky for planning to swim on at 31 for her home Olympics in four years’ time.

“It’s always exciting racing the best in the world and I think we get the best out of each other,” Titmus said.

“You know, it’s more satisfying racing a champion like her and being successful than not.

“So I think it’d be crazy for her not to try and keep going for her home Games.

“And yes, it’s another challenge, it is always a challenge racing her so I look forward to it.”

Ledecky’s status at the top of 800m freestyle is unquestioned after another gold in Paris, her fourth straight since the miraculous first at London 2012 as a 15-year-old.

Titmus will hope she can finally get over the top of the American there to spoil the party in Los Angeles.

And the stage is set for monster showdowns in the 200m and 400m, too.

In Paris, Australia’s rising star Mollie O’Callaghan conquered Titmus in the 200m while Canadian teenager Summer McIntosh squeezed in between Titmus and Ledecky for 400m silver.

“I think that at the moment, it’s probably, since I can remember, the best it’s ever been in terms of how fast we’re swimming, the depth we have across the world, the depth in Australia,” Titmus said.

“So I feel very privileged and have a sense of pride to contribute to that at the moment.

“I think people are going to look back on this era of swimming and say that it was one of the best.”

Titmus leaves her second Olympics with a career medal haul of four gold, three silver and one bronze.